Streaming services regularly set records for the most streamed events in a given category. This should not be a surprise since streaming live events is even newer than streaming in general. Therefore we should expect to see records for the most streamed movie, TV show, athletic events, political conventions and the like set almost yearly until something so monumental happens that it just can’t be touched. Nonetheless what NBC and Peacock accomplished this weekend concerning NASCAR is notable. If for nothing else than because it lifts the vale a little on Peacock’s overall value to Comcast. It may not be the top streaming platform with 15 million subscribers, but each of those subscribers is a potential viewer for key properties like racing and NFL Football.
This past Sunday’s 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship from Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., delivered the most-watched title race since 2019 and the most-streamed Cup Series race in NBC Sports history, averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 3.355 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.
Viewership of Joey Logano’s second-career championship was up 2% vs. last season’s championship race on NBC and Peacock (TAD 3.297 million viewers) and up 8% vs. 2020 (TAD 3.115 million viewers). Viewership for the race peaked towards its conclusion when Logano took the checkered flag (6:30-6:45 pm ET) with a TV-only audience of more than four million viewers (4.060 million viewers).
Logano outdueled fellow Championship 4 contenders Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott to win his second career Cup Series title (2018). In capturing the championship, Logano led 187 laps at Phoenix Raceway, including the final 30.
Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., led all markets for Sunday’s championship race with a 5.8 local household rating. Below is the full list of Top 10 markets for the title race:
Rank Market HH Rating
1 Greenville-Spartanburg 5.8
2 Charlotte 5.5
t-3 Knoxville 5.1
t-3 Greensboro-High Point 5.1
5 Birmingham 4.1
t-6 Buffalo 3.4
t-6 Dayton 3.4
8 Louisville 3.2
9 Norfolk 3.1
10 Tulsa 2.9
Bolstered by Peacock, the Average Minute Audience (AMA) of the championship was 141,500 viewers, marking the most-streamed Cup Series race in NBC Sports history. The AMA also includes streaming on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.
NBC Sports’ 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-long viewership averaged a TAD of 2.454 million viewers across NBC, USA Network and Peacock, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, essentially flat vs. viewership for the comparable races on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock in 2021 (TAD 2.485 million viewers). NBC Sports presents the final 20 races of the NASCAR Cup Series season, including exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Playoffs and Championship.
